THIS country has ‘the highest proportion of people out of work’

The sovereign debt crisis occurring in Europe is one of the most severe depressions in decades. The peripheral EU nations of Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal are all experiencing high unemployment and are struggling to keep in place their mandated austerity measures. One nation however is hurting more than others. Reuters reports on Spain’s grave unemployment and the nation’s extremely bleak outlook:

Spanish unemployment hit its highest level in the second quarter since the Franco dictatorship ended in the mid-1970s, succumbing to a crisis of confidence among business and consumers that looks likely to escalate as the country’s recession drags on.

The jobless rate rose to 24.6 percent from 24.4 percent in the three months to March, the National Statistics Institute said on Friday.

The number of unemployed Spaniards hit 5.7 million, giving the country the highest proportion of people out of work in the European Union.

That figure continues to rise as a government battling to stave off a sovereign bailout piles on fresh austerity measures while the economy shrinks.

“It’s another example of the dire position the economy is in, and with the economy unlikely to expand anytime soon, and probably more likely to fall deeper into recession, things are only going to get worse,” economist at Capital Economics Ben May said